Lot 4421
1820 $5 Capped Head. Square base 2. . BD-3, Breen-6476, Miller-129. NGC graded MS-65. In NGC holder 1634525-001. J.D. notes 50-65 examples known in all grades. Boldly struck throughout. A splendid frosty mint gem. Light yellow golden color that deepens slightly about the devices. Incredibly lustrous gem fields with uniform satin frost and the bare minimum of surface marks. Under close inspection, the fields and devices reveal the texture of smooth frosted glass, but of a brilliant golden color, finely granular, pretty as anything imaginable. This specimen is free of toning. It is free of toning spots as well, that bane of all rare high-grade 19th century gold rarities. Identifiers are few and insignificant: a tiny mark in the reverse field below R of PLURIBUS; a small shallow dot below M of AMERICA and a little curled lint mark depression below M of UNUM. As far as the key striking sharpness is concerned, the central devices are finely detailed on both sides, with Liberty's hair curls complete, and crisp details throughout the eagle's feathers, the stripes of the shield, legends, arrow points, and feathers, dentils, etc.
Large letters reverse style with defective Ts, each having a small notch at the right juncture of the foot and stand. An interesting characteristic shared with other reverse dies for this and other years through 1826. No die cracks are seen. Pop 5; 2 finer, 1 in 65 star, 1 in 66 (PCGS # 8125) .
Die notes: on BD-3, star 1 is distant from Liberty's bust, while star 13 is near (but not touching) the curl; an arrow points to the right foot of R on the reverse. A scarce variety, it is the most available Square Base 2 die pairing and for the entire year, as the five varieties of curved base 2 are all rare to exceedingly rare. It is estimated that 50 to 65 are known in various grades, mainly circulated to low-end Mint State. According to Dannreuther, "The reverse die must have suffered a fatal injury, as this was the only appearance. The obverse die remained intact and was used for the next variety (BD-4)."
Estimated Value $80,000 - 85,000.
Ohringer Family Trust Holdings.
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| Realized $92,000 |
